Flexible wrist watch band and the like



Feb. 2, 1954 RAPPAPORT FLEXIBLE WRIST WATCH BAND AND THE LIKE Filed March 4, 1949 \W km NN IN VEN TOR.

Ma ,l

Patented Feb. 2,Y 1954 ALee Rapiiaport, New York; Y. iiiiniicjaiioenarn 4, weit-serial.-Havens permitting easy interhangeability. .f of j fvvrist watcheswith respect to' straps ivs /.itlioutj ni'o'diifying o r in any substantial Wayjlchangingjthe attachrnent orsecuring Ineansjf thestrap.

i The Wrist watchfstrapfaccording'to' this in i vention is characterized in particular by the pro'- vision of aplurality-of slits extending in the strap and in lengthvvisewdirection thereof! said slits being'-t ofpredeterminedlength to lpermit; anchoring means for the-wrstlyvatchtomove lengthwise of said strap in said slits and to swing relatively`= i to the latter, whereby predetermined lengths ofA wris.Watche.maybe-securely-heldion Said SiiaRiniiiLWiiliQnt riskingfanv displacement Oft @he WIS- Wfcnflln'yal-, fWiinihe-bove andeihiirniiienis inviewr-the invention vWill be hereinafter more fully described and the combinatiomand;arrangement of parts will beshown in the acc p anying drawing and pointed 'out in the claim hichiorm part o f the speinnation.

'.Fig- .1 is a tonninn ne.. vri-isb Watchman iliade in aocordance'with th nyentiomt ether with a wristwatchI shown 'in dot-dash lines;

(Cnam-4 I y Eig' 2r ifs .a .Sectional Yievrftakenalong. 11115352 of Fig. 1,.,Withthewristwatch,seenliri ,dajlsh lines; .A

Eig. Sis a sectional. viewsimiimto that bring. 5 2, withtheanchoringmeans shown 2., with the.anchoring me l positionv than .thos'efof ;igsfzfand v .trating a Wrist :Watchl of a, length. differertrom .those shoWninFigs. 2,. a' nd'3 A' v W Fig. 5 is asec'tional vietriv taken. along l inje 5 %5 of Fig. 2; t Fig.'l6 shows .part of avwristwatchstrapt. V'ith `arichoring means for a..`dif ferentftyfj. 'ofllwifist WatchJthanthatshown irilFig. l1. Y M.

Referring I.now partiularlytoL Figs. loto 5,' IO represents a vWatch strap ,which isfforned. oi. a 2G bottoinlayer I Iandatop layrJZ h's'egflayefrs areiwidened attliefnedian portion' .locati'oil at which thewateh istobeffastefied. layers.II "I21are. stitchedat di'e'ren to, hold 'the myersftogetiief. ndjfolgjthus "id 25 a composite 'orline'dfstrao @Qnefferi offthr r'jap lccpntains a buckle I IL andy lops'f5 I F`j sl iteV f tfom the buckle." The otherrenii ofthe strap a' "ted to pass through the, buckle and theidqps @l openings I 6 for l receiving. vtor'igxe. I Il ornig" a parmrsaidpircme'm;

.Stitching on, .`,one .side 1. of.. theilocationflfis direqtedftransverspiy. of the stilaplas may bevvider thanfthestigap portion portions ofuthehstitchihgyru the s trap' inlordentofrnlyi securelhfilayersf, of thestraptogether.

Aprile.ipatinwnereine.anhoringrneansare t be placed the upper. 'layer of vide with; twg lengthy nits 22... 2a. Seated non one @minerari@submarinas pe tain a pin 28 which may form part of the casing of the watch 2! and which is shaped to coact with the portions 25, 26 and 21 in a hinge-like manner to couple the watch thereto.

Member 24 is secured to the upper strap layer I2 by the extension of a securing pin or element 29 through the retaining means including the slit arrangement 22-23 which pin or element has reduced ends 3i and 32 which pass through openings in depending end plate portions 33 and 34, respectively, forming parts of the member 24 (Fig. 5). Outer strap portions or loops 35 and 36 positioned adjacent and beyond the slits 22, 23 are elevated to conform to the ends of the pin or element 29 While portion 37 lying intermediate said slits forms a support for the middle part of pin 29. By having the slits 22 and 23 of sumcient length, the strap and the anchoring means can be adapted for different lengths of watch casings. These anchoring means can be swung or tilted in the manner as shown in Fig. 2, to receive one size of a watch casing. as indicated at 2l with the pins 29 positioned at locations intermediate the length of the slits while the members 2li are inclined outwardly and upwardly. A second size watch casing 2 l which is longer than the watch casing shown in Fig. 2 can be disposed upon the strap i9 by the members 2d which are moved to extend toward the outer ends of the median strap portion as far as possible and away from median portion I3. To this end, members 24 are tilted outwardly to assume a position seen in Fig. 3. Such an arrangement permits ready accommodation of a long watch casing 2i".

In Fig. 4 a watch casing 2t" which is of short length can be connected over the strap portion i3 by locating members 2t to assume a position shown in Fig. 4 with the attaching pins 29 brought to the innermost ends oi" the slits 22, 23 and toward the watch strap portion i3. It will also be apparent that watches of still different sizes can be located upon the strap depending upon the tilt of the members and upon the location of the pins 29 connecting the members 2li under portions 35 and 99 of the upper layer. The slitsrcan be made of any desired length providing they are kept within the spacing of the stitchings i8 and i9 so as to provide a wider range of adjustment or for a less range of adjustment.

The clamping portions 25, 2S and 27 may be of any desired length and arrangement. It

should also be apparent that a construction could v be provided utilizing only the top layer of the strap and the layer i i can be left oi.

In Fig. 6, a slightly different construction is shown. In this arrangement, the Watch, as indicated at ill, is of substantially the same width as the strap. The member 24 is the same and is attached by its end portions 33 and 34 and pin 29 to the strap by the extension of the pin 29 through the slits 22 and 23. The watch, however, is connected by a short pin 42 to the central clamp portion 2S of the clamp member 29. This short pin has reduced diameter end portions 43 to which Watch projections le are connected. By having the reduced end portions of the pin 92, small watch projections lill may be employed. The members 24, however, are adjustable within the slits in the same manner as above described so that either a smaller length watch or a longer length watch can be applied to the same strap.

. The watch, however, is of substantially the same width as the strap.

It should be apparent that there has been provided by these constructions, a watch strap which aiords adjustability of the anchoring means with respect to the strap structure either in a pivotal manner or by an actual adjustment of the connecting pin for the anchoring means along the slits. With a construction of this kind, the pressure upon the attaching pins or bars of the wrist Watches are kept to a minimum and there is less loss of breakage or the disconnection of the Watch from the strap. It will be further seen that it is easy to effect the change of the wrist watches upon the strap, that the strap is adapted for any number of different sizes of wrist watches and Without having to reform or reconstruct the attaching structure either upon the Watch or upon the strap.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be Within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a strap with a plurality of superposed plies having a seat for a watch casing intermediate the ends and on one surface of the upper ply of said strap; retaining means adjacent two opposite ends of said seat and extending substantially above said seat, each of said retaining means being constituted by two spaced seams extending transversely of said'strap surface and joining said plies and two substantially parallel spaced slits located on and passing only through the upper ply provided with said onesurface portions of said upper ply positioned intermediate said slits constituting respective complementary parts of loop means positioned intermediate said seams, a pin mounted within and extending through each of said loop means and slidable in said latter in transverse direction of and in linear direction to said one surface of said upper ply, two members each pivotally connected for angular displacement at opposed ends to a respective pin and laterally of said loop means, and hook-shaped clamp means on said members, respectively, and extending from lsaid opposite ends of said pins above said one surface, said clamp means being pivotally engageable with a portion of said watch casing, whereby said watch casing may pivot about said clamp means and relative to said pins,'which latter are displaceable angularly and linearly relatively to each other and to the surface of said strap.

2. A strap constructed according to claim 1, wherein said hook-shaped clamp means face each other.

I iElii` RAPPAPORT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,200,064 Wiseman Oct. 3, 1916 1,892,350 Kestenman Dec. 27, 1932 2,165,115 Schultheiss July 4, 1939 2,180,275 Boler Nov. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,862 Great Britain July 9, 1914 107,295 Great Britain June 28, 1917 117,061 Great Britain July 4, 1918 214,480 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1924 785,981 France May 27, 1935 

